Morris Minor Owners Club

hi

Can I ask what your Your technique on starting engine...when the car has been standing for a week or so.

I know its sounds like a strange request, but I never used to have any problems before, I would pull the choke out half way turn the key and a away she went.

I gave eveything a good squirting of w-40, now I can be cranking the engine for upto 5mins before she fires.

I have tried all different variations but its still the same.

all the plugs,points, timing, petrol pump are Ok.

Any Ideas??

Check plugs, points, rotor arm & ht leads to start with

5 mins cranking and you will soon be needing a new battery and a starter! Find out what's causing it - is it lack of fuel - or lack of sparks. You need to track this down asap. So - next time it's not starting - check for sparks at the plugs - and check for fuel at the carb. Are you sure the choke control hasn't maybe slipped it's linkage after the wd40 dousing ?

I've had issues with a small amount of corrosion building up on the points and plugs if left for a few days. Once the engine fires up it seems to clean off, and the car would be fine left standing again for 3 - 4 days, then it'd be a pain unless I quickly cleaned up the plugs and points.

Never could understand why that engine was like that, when other engines I've had could be left for months and fire first time...

I started having similar problems so I replaced the dizzy cap, leads, points and condensor.
I bought a complete 'service kit' which contained all these items.

It was dead cheap, easy to do and now she starts first 'click'. Well worth the effort.
To be honest, for the menial cost involved its easier to replace the whole lot rather than bother trying to 'fault find' individual components.

I just pull the choke out and turn the key, fires after a very short while then push choke in to get smooth fast idle until warm.

Replacing the dizzy cap and leads can help with poor starts, if the cap was cracked or does not seat very well then moisture will get in and effect the points. If you have gone over it with WD40 you may actually have made it worse as you clean of the heavy engine oil that sealed any cracks, and the WD40 quickly boils off/evaporates letting moisture in. WD40 is great for emergency starts but not a long term fix for anything.

Sounds daft but for the mini I have found that a paint brush dipped in engine oil and then painted over the electrics does wonders to keep the water out and lasts longer than WD40. Of course it leave it all slightly messy, but on the mini its at the front of the engine so subject to all road spray (clever design!) so this more extreme measure helps a lot. I've not needed to do this on the Minor.

pull choke fully out,turn key,instant start,return choke to off.away you go.when it was stood for 5 yrs it wouldnt start due to corrosion on the points,cleaned this off and it fired up on 7 yr old petrol.
when set up properly and with decent points etc they really are excellent.

Issigonis did try to have the Mini dizzy at the back - away from the spray - but the exhaust was a big nuisance, and the carb iced up badly - so they turned it round.

my mate baught electronic ignition for his mini could not get it to fire went back to points i think his problem was positive earth. i have got electronic ignition pull out choke she fires up and choke in after a short time.

dalebrignall wrote:my mate baught electronic ignition for his mini could not get it to fire went back to points i think his problem was positive earth.

The Pertronix/Aldon Ignitor unit comes in both positive and negative earth varieties.

I have the pertonix on my 1500 midget. It really is a good system, I fitted it after having lots of issues with condensor failure.

However....the Minor 1000 system is (fingers crossed) doing me proud, and has so far been without issue. Even taking 2 feet of water in its stride with just a clean to get it going again. So I'm sticking with it (with a spare in the boot just in case!). It really is a good system.
Andrew

Check that the carb dashpot is not sticking by using the little button next to the float bowl. having had my moggy 'professionaly' serviced once only to find they had used some posh engine oil which it spat out proto throu ever oriface it could. After much nashing of the teeth I found that the damper in the carb had a sticky varnish like goo at the base and the damper held on just enough to stop it starting if that makes any sense. After cranking the engine for along while petrol gets in to this area of the carb melts the goo and releases the damper and needle assembly rises and vroom of you go until the next time the car is left. Of course you could use your moggy every day? Hope this helps.

I know this sounds like a stupid point but I left mine for 3 months and had the same problem. Took me an age to get it started and when it did it misfired, spluttered and was rough as anything.

I filled the tank with petrol (as there was only 1/4 tank in) and it started perfectly and ran smoothly from that point. In heindsight I did a search and it seems that petrol doesn't store well in the tank.

When was the last time you filled up?

mmm... I dont think its a fuel problem cos after a while you can smell the petrol like its flooding.(used to fill up every couple of months)

I have fitted a new distributer complete with a pertonix ignition. But the symtoms are are the same before and after fitting.

the leads and plugs are not very old.

I get the impression that the spark it not quite good enough.Once the engine does fire its fine.. just a bit embarassing when I seem to sitting outside my house taking ages to start

Is it possible that the coil could be breaking down or do coils either work or they dont.

I cant really do any investigating at the moment as we have just moved house, but the in laws have offered to drive it the 120miles (GOOD LUCK!!)

zippy500 wrote:mmm... I dont think its a fuel problem cos after a while you can smell the petrol like its flooding.(used to fill up every couple of months)

Petrol that has gone off will still smell of petrol and flood the engine in the same way! It just wont ignite as well.

Old petrol loses the light end volatiles very quickly - so not so easily ignited especially in cold weather. Check the resistance of the coil - meter across the two LV terminals. Should be just under 3 Ohms. And fit a NEW condenser - old one will run the engine ok, but struggles when the volts are down during starting.